The new king of the Chinese cash register is an adorable ugly, demonic child fighting monsters.
In less than two weeks since the release, “ne ZHA 2”, an animation films, loosely based on Chinese mythology and a famous 16th-century novel, has become the most profitable film ever in China, with more than $ 1 billion in ticket sales . It is also the first film that was not made by a Hollywood studio to cross that marking.
De Blockbuster delivered a rare dose of good news for the Chinese film industry, which is struggling with anemic ticket sales and a collapsing economy. The few films that break through the malaise are no longer Hollywood titles, but domestic characteristics full of patriotic messages or rooted in traditional Chinese culture or folklore.
“Ne Zha 2” is a sequel to what the most profitable animation film had been in China. Nezha is born in the original 2019 as the reincarnation of a demon with supernatural forces, but for only three years. He fights back against his fate and saves his village.
In the future, Nezha visits a similar theme. He challenges the political order and authority of gods and demons, fights against the Dragon King of the Four Seas and other creatures.
“Ne Zha 2” is the rare film that hits all the figures, “said Raymond Zhou, an independent Chinese film critic. “It focuses on all demography and has won them all successfully.”
Since the release on January 29, the film has collected $ 1.2 billion in ticket sales at the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year's holiday, according to Maoyan, a Chinese entertainment data provider. The Trek is already more than double the most profitable film of 2024. The film, distributed by CMC Pictures, will be released in North America on Friday.
Chinese state media and officials of the Communist Party celebrated the success of the film and portrayed it as a recognition of the cultural influence of China.
“Chinese culture is constantly moving forward in inheritance and innovation and shows its unique charm,” wrote The Global Times, a tabloid for the Communist Party.
China Daily, a newspaper run by the state, said in an opinion-essay that “Ne Zha 2” symbolizes the “growing cultural trust” of the country. It mentioned the proof that the Chinese entertainment industry tells its own stories instead of trusting Western studios to make films based on Chinese Folklore, who called “Mulan” by Walt Disney Studios as an example.
“Ne ZHA 2” Reals the stories telling cloak, which shows that no one can tell the myths of China better than China itself, “the essay explained.
Traditional Chinese culture has also inspired breakthroughs in other forms of entertainment. In video games, Black Myth: Wukong, based on a classic Chinese novel from the 16th century called “Journey to the West”, an immediate hit when it came out last year.
Until “Ne Zha 2”, the best -to -do Chinese films used in the in -depth nationalist zeal of the country. The previous number 1, 'The Battle at Lake Changjin', is a 2021 film about a group of Chinese volunteers who defeated American soldiers during the Korean war. Behind it was “Wolf Warrior 2”, an action film from 2017 in which a Chinese former Special Forces -Soldaat accepts an American villain.
However, it was a difficult piece for Chinese films. The sale of Kassa fell by 23 percent last year, according to the China Film Administration, a government ruler.
The industry has received a boost from China's broader efforts to stimulate consumer spending and to breathe new life into a slow economy. The government has added an extra day to the more than a week of New Year's holiday, giving cinema visitors more time to go to the theater. Moreover, there were discounts, subsidies and other stimuli for film tickets.
But Mr. Zhou, the film critic, said the stimuli the success of “Ne Zha 2.” He did not explain the popularity of the franchise to his twist to classical stories and characters and resonated with a younger audience.
As the second largest film market in the world, the Chinese public after the United States were once a reliable source of ticket sales for blockbusters from Hollywood.
That is no longer the case. Last year “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” was the only American film in the top 10 of the Chinese cash register, in ninth place. In 2023, no American film cracked the top 10.
Hu Xijin, a former editor -in -chief of the Global Times, said that China's decision to open up to Hollywood films in the nineties Helped in promoting the film industry, but China can now stand on its own.
“This is the best Chinese animation I have ever seen,” wrote Mr. Hu on Weibo, a platform for social media. “The era in which the Chinese people looked up to Hollywood sign movies such as 'Kung Fu Panda' and surprised on them is over.”
Li you contributed research.
